I’ve been thinking about what to say today that would be fitting to honor those who perished in the attacks on this country 8 years ago today. I think I will keep it very simple and simply ask you to never forget them or that day. Say a prayer for their families, and a prayer for the soldiers who fight today to help ensure our safety. May God bless and keep us all.

Bad Blogger, Shame on me!! I haven’t meant to ignore my blog, but things have been crazy. Time is coming down to the wire for my son to deploy, so there has been much going on, including emotions of course. I haven’t gotten much stamping done, and it seems like what I have either has to have a picture taken of it because it won’t scan right, or has been for my secret sis. Since I can’t find my camera’s storage card, taking pics is out for now. lol Can’t post secret sis stuff yet, cuz…..well…..it’s a secret of course!! However, I will try to at least post more things that were made some time ago, but I already have pics of. At least they may be new to you. And hopefully I can get my act together soon. Of course, I’ve never been able to do this in the last 46 years…but there’s hope right?!?!?! It could happen.

click on image to view it larger

Today’s offering is a 6×6 recipe scrap book page. I will include the recipe since it’s a bit fuzzy in the scan. 6×6 pages are a great way to share recipes. For this one I printed on SU’s vellum card stock. You get (20) 8.5×11 sheets for 6.50, and there are some amazing things you can do with this stuff. Love it!! I inked the cherries with our many marvelous markers (my son later told me they were upside down and he’s right). If the cherries were dipped in chocolate, the chocolate should have been on the bottom. Oopsie. lol I then stamped the cherries on very vanilla card stock, printed the recipe in vellum and attached the vellum on top of the vanilla piece with the stamped cherries, so the cherries show through the vellum. The ingredients list was done on the tag that pulls up, and then tucks back down behind the directions part. I really love pages that have moving parts. I did the title on the computer. 6×6 pages are a great way to begin scrap booking since it’s not much larger than a card.

This is all done in the microwave, and the recipe might be on some cans of sweetened condensed milk. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, and sweetened condensed milk. Add a little cherry juice. Zap it for 1 minute on high, give it a stir. Keep zapping in one minute intervals, stirring between each one until it reaches a fairly smooth consistency. This is usually 3-4 minutes. You can keep the cherries whole, or chop them. I usually smash em between my fingers, it’s easier and quicker than chopping. Add as many cherries as you like now, and more juice if you like. The more juice you add, the less it will set up, but I have no issues eating fudge with a spoon so I add a lot of juice!! lol Put some wax paper in an 8×8 square pan, pour in the fudge and let it set up in the fridge for a couple hours. Or, if you’re like me….forget the pan, forget the fridge, let it cool til the temp is somewhat below molten lava stage, grab a spoon and dig in!! Once you’re happily sprawled out on the couch with your eyes glazed over in your chocolate coma…..someone who really needs Pieces when it comes to fudge can put it in the pan and refrigerate it. lol

Don’t forget about the blog hop beginning tomorrow Saturday, August 29th at noon EST. The hop features all products in the Holiday Mini which begins Sept. 1st, and is sponsored by Stampin’ Addicts. You can visit the home page of this great site by clicking on the Blog Hop button. To open in a new window, just right click and then click on open in a new tab or window. The hop will run through Midnight pacific time on Monday, August 31st. The hop has been ordered by the way the products are listed in the mini and starts at Tracy’s Stamp Therapy. Hope you can visit all the sites and have tons of fun. Be sure to leave comments for the artists letting them know if you like their designs, and be on the lookout for the chance to win blog candy.

These aren’t new, and if you’ve come to my classes, you’ve probably done at least one of these, and perhaps both of them. But I know many of you haven’t seen them, and even if you’ve done the onesie card, I’m including the link for the template here.

The first one is a onesie card following this template done by Lauren Meader. The only thing I do different is to make my sleeves a bit smaller than hers. I think I measure down 1-1/4″ instead of 1-3/4″ but I’m not certain, and don’t have one handy to measure it. Just measure down an amount that looks good to you. Here is the link to Lauren’s template.

For my card, I used the now retired prints dsp in lovely lilac with celery ribbon. I used the Crop a dile (CAD) to do the dry embossed dots on the barely banana scallops for the neck and legs. These make great baby cards, and they can be done a lot of ways. The new animal stories stamp set would be great to use to put an image on the front instead of using designer paper. The new BAB (build a bear) stuff coming out in the new mini Sept 1st would be loads of fun for these too.

This next one is a card that was designed by upline Joni Kelly. She used the scallop circle punch to do the top and folded down some of the scallops. The legs for the bottom were done using the large oval punch.

These are both really cute and fun cards to make and to give. Click on each photo to see a larger image, then just click on the back button to return to this page.

www.stampinaddicts.com Is having another blog hop Aug 29-31, 2009. This time to feature products from the Holiday Mini which begins on September 1st, 2009. If you are one of my customers, you should be getting your mini in the mail within the next week. If you don’t, let me know. There are tons of fabulous new items in this mini. The Blog Hop is your chance to see what some incredibly talented demos have done with these products.

What is a blog hop? You follow a link from to a blog, and there you will see the project(s) that have been created. That person will have a link to another blog, where you will see more projects, they’ll link you to the next and so on. Pretty soon you’ve completed a circle and now you have fabulous ideas for things you can do with the projects from the new mini catalog. You have the opportunity to leave comments on the particpants blogs letting them know what you like about their projects, and some of those comments might win you some Blog Candy!! Usually some of the participants will offer some blog candy. These are fun prizes and stamping goodies that you can win, and they will have instructions on how to win. Usually just leaving a comment. Mark your calendar so you don’t forget, and I’ll post a reminder just before the hop with a link that will take you to a starting place on the hop.

Two in one day!! Does this kind of make for neglecting my blog?? This is an ATC that I did for a swap for convention. This really is much prettier in real life, but the scanner just doesn’t do it justice. This is called Glitter Stained Glass. This is kind of a tricky technique but so beautiful IRL. The glitter colors I used were green and pink, from Stampin’ Up’s Super Nova glitter pack, and the stamp set is Circle Circus. The scan just doesn’t pick the colors up well, but I hope you like it anyhow. Also, I know how to make the pics clickable now so you can click on the photo to make it bigger and make it pull up in it’s own window, thanks to a real sweet lady on Stampin’ Addicts. Thanks Debbi!!

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. Life kinda got in the way. Y’all know how that can happen right?? My back went out on me, then my son got an unexpected 2 day pass to come home so that was great, but had to go get him one day then take him back the next. Luckily it was only a couple hours of driving each day. Got home and the car died. Ok enough about that….how about a card!!

Stampin’ Up! had their annual convention in SLC Utah. I didn’t get to go, but I had a wonderful convention buddy who is a dear friend. She swapped some cards for me, so I got to particpate in some of the organized swaps. She got me some momento mall goodies, and kept me up to date. One of the biggest thrills for most who went was seeing the new digital scrapping software in action. MDS or My Digital Studio is featured in the new mini catalog, but not available for sale yet, and they’re still testing it to make sure it’s good before they release it. I like the hands on layered approach to card making and scrap booking, so didn’t think I’d be interested in a digital thing, but from I’ve heard this sounds amazing. Even if you like doing things yourself, there are so many applications for this program. But more on that later.

Here is a card that I did for a Thanksgiving swap. This combines 3 techniques. Faux Silk, Rock and Roll, and Marker Thumping. I used Lovely as a Tree, and two new sets called Autumn Days, and Teeny Tiny Wishes. On the ones I sent in for the swap I did find a way to make the hemp twine lay down better, so pretend that it does on this card. lol The faux silk is done with crumpled tisssue paper. Hope you enjoy it.

I’ll be posting some others over the next few days, so come back and check em out. If I can find the disc thingy for my camera, I’ll introduce you to the newest member of our family, the Stampin’ Up! Build a Bear that Janice got me at convention. He’s adorable!! Can’t scan him though. lol He hasn’t told me his name yet, but if I can get a good pic of him, maybe we can have a “Name Deb’s Bear” contest. lol Let me think on that one. Ta-Ta for now.